These three women are India's first female combat pilots

Updated: 07 Jun 2017, 01:03 PM IST

Three cheers

India’s first female combat pilots are ready to fly Sukhoi 30 jets in September, when they wrap up their last leg of training. Women have been inducted as pilots in the world’s fourth-largest air force for over two decades, but have so far their role is only limited to non-combat activities such as flying transport aircraft and helicopters.

But this trio will open the floodgates with the Army also getting ready to include women as jawans. Meet the three trendsetters.

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Who are they?

Bhawana Kanth, Mohana Singh and Avani Chaturvedi were commissioned as flying officers in the IAF last June. The then defence minister Manohar Parrikar described the trio's induction as a "red letter day" and said the Centre was working towards bringing about "total gender parity" in the armed forces.

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It wasn't easy

The three, who got the break after government ended a rigid gender-based combat exclusion policy in October 2015, were among the 40 flying officers who were trained at the Kalaikunda air force station.

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Gritty fighter

For Bhawana, whose father is an engineer at Indian Oil and mother a homemaker, flying "like a free bird" has been a childhood dream. This, she explained, inspired her to join the IAF. Getting the opportunity to opt for the fighter stream is the "best and biggest" thing that has happened to her, she said, adding that she wants to fight for the nation and make her parents proud.

The fighter pilot, who hails from Darbhanga in Bihar, said recovering her aircraft from a solo spin at 20,000 ft at a time when "doubts started creeping in" boosted her confidence.

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Early bird

Responding to a question whether the trio had any apprehensions about working in a male-dominated field, Avani Chaturvedi said that all of her instructors and colleagues have been supportive.

No stranger to flying, Avani, daughter of an executive engineer father and homemaker mother, already had flying hours to her credit at the college flying club. This, she said, inspired her to join the IAF which she describes as a "golden opportunity".

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Smooth operator

With a father presently serving in IAF and grandfather who was a flight gunner in the Aviation Research Centre, it came as no surprise that Mohana Singh, from Jhunjhunu in Rajasthan, joined the IAF and opted for the fighter stream.

Mohana recollected her experience when her training got her out of a tricky situation. On her first sector solo sortie, she was unable to distinguish between what she described were "stars in the dark sky above and clusters of light on the dark ground beneath". It was her flight instructor's words that remained with her: "Trust your instruments." She was able to land safely.